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YOUR JULY peace mail from JORDAN

Dear Friends,

Thank you for hearing my story. With my husband and children I grew up and lived in Syria. We had a farm where we grew walnuts and pistachios. During the week we would tend to the farm, then sell our produce on the weekend. We made good money and were very happy.

Jackson Gallagher/Act for Peace

But then the bombing started next to our home. I was worried about my children. I had only had my youngest daughter 2 days before the first bombs. I was breastfeeding her, but when the bombing started I was so afraid and in shock that my milk stopped producing. It was at that moment I knew we had to leave, for my children’s sake.

I had a sister already living in Jordan and she told me it was safe and to come there. She even sent us money for the journey. All of us piled onto a tractor to get out of town. We moved from vehicle to vehicle as we headed to Jordan. When there was no lift we walked – even through the night.

Our kids were extremely tired on the journey and covered in dust. Especially my baby daughter, she struggled with the dust, wouldn’t sleep and I had no milk for her. The whole time I was holding my newborn baby.

My husband and I tried to keep our children safe and together. We had a small amount of food which we shared amongst the children. Finally, we reached Zatari refugee camp but there was a disease outbreak. After travelling all the way there we only stayed for 2 days. I didn’t want my children to get sick. That would be even harder. So we kept going ‘til we reached Talbiah Camp.

We have been here for two years, as it’s not safe to return home yet. We used to be a big family with strong ties - the children with their grandparents, aunts and uncles. Now we are separated from them and this has a negative impact on our family. Their grandparents are in Syria. Their uncle and aunts are distributed over Jordan in refugee camps. It is so hard for us to move and visit each other.

There are a lot of big challenges living here as refugees so thank you for standing with us and feeling what we feel. Thanks to you we have food for our children. Your support provides medical days otherwise there would be no doctors for my children. Only recently my oldest daughter was suffering with a fever and I was able to take her to see the medical staff. They treated her so she got better.

My wish is for my family to always be safe and that Australia never has to go through what we have gone through. I am so grateful for your support.

Since the Syrian crisis began in 2011, 4.8 million Syrian refugees have been displaced into surrounding countries. It is estimated there is 1.4 million Syrians in Jordan.

Through your generous gifts, Act for Peace’s local partner, the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR – Jordan), supports Syrian refugees living in Jordan by providing food ration packs, hygiene kits with soap and clothing to prevent illness and disease, training courses and medical care.

Most of our work on the ground – such as distributing rations, clothing and hygiene kits, running training courses – is done by volunteers who are often refugees themselves. This helps ensure that the aid reaches the very people who need it most. It also gives refugees a sense of wellbeing and worth as they participate in sustaining their own communities.

Many refugees have the skills and desire to work but they face extremely tight restrictions when seeking work in Jordan. Many families, like Leyla’s, have left everything behind in Syria. Your gifts help provide food through emergency rations and basic sanitation with the provision of hygiene parcels.

Your support is making a difference:

$54 can provide emergency food rations for a refugee family for two months

$67 can provide a refugee with a life-saving hygiene parcel to prevent the spread of illness and disease

Thank you for your generous, ongoing support. Your EOFY tax receipt will be mailed to you this month. Please contact Holly or Claire on 1800 025 101 if you have any questions. And we always love to hear from you so please be sure to get in touch if there is anything we can help with.

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Act for Peace is a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct and Fundraising Charter, which commits international aid and development organisations to good standards of governance, transparency, accountability and effectiveness.

Act for Peace is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global network of grass-roots aid organisations working together in over 140 countries. Together we mobilise about $1.5 billion each year to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalised people regardless of their religion, politics, gender, sexual orientation, race or nationality in keeping with the highest international codes and standards.

The Church Agencies Network (CAN) is a group of eleven Australian church-based aid and development agencies. The network is an opportunity to work together and to share experiences and practice, recognising that together we can achieve much more.

Act for Peace gratefully acknowledges the support of the Australian Government.